Thai Noodle Soup

Hello, my invisible internet friends! I'm reporting in from the ranch, back in MA. I threw together some ingredients the other day and created one of my best Thai concoctions. It was so easy, I almost didn't think to blog it, but since I'm still dreaming about it, I figure I should! It's very simple and I suspect very versatile. Feel free to play around with curry amount, type, and adding in some protein!

Thai Noodle Soup
Yields 4 bowls or 2 hearty stomachs

Ingredients

• 1/2 c full fat coconut milk
• 2 c vegetable broth (or 2 c water + 2 tbs vegetable bouillon, like I did) 
• 1 1/2 to 2 tbsp red curry paste
• 1 tbsp Thai herb blend (I found a little tube of this nifty stuff with the fresh herbs, see if your grocer sells it too! If not, consider adding in garlic, and maybe some cilantro and a little lemongrass.)
• 1/2 Vidalia or sweet onion, sliced thinly
• 4 cups fresh spinach, roughly chopped
• 1/2 red pepper, chopped into 1/2" pieces
• 2 squash (I used a mix of zucchini and summer squash), sliced thinly
• 1 to 1 1/2 c of (fine) rice vermicelli
• Water for boiling
• 1 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil

Directions

1. In a medium sized sauce pan on medium heat, mix together the coconut milk, broth, curry paste, herb blend, and zucchini. Be sure to give this a stir occasionally.
2. In a medium sized skillet on medium heat, add olive oil. Once heated, add onions. Allow them to sweat and even begin to caramelize. 
3. Once onions start caramelizing, add in the chopped spinach and let them wilt. In the sauce pan, add the squash and give the mix a stir, making sure the squash aren't just floating around at the top.
4. When the spinach is wilted and the onions have browned, add them to the broth mixture in the sauce pan.
5. In a new sauce pan, boil water. Once boiling, cook the rice vermicelli according to the package. (Mine recommended cooking it for 2-3 minutes and rinsing it in cold water for a minute. I would recommend 3-4 minutes in the boiling water, rinsing it with cold water, and then allowing it to finish cooking in the broth.) If you don't have rice vermicelli or another long, Asian noodle, I would recommend adding in a long, Italian noodle (e.g., angel hair or linguine) over serving it with rice. I'm afraid rice would get lost in this soup. 
6. Serve fresh! Optional, but mighty tasty, garnishes include chopped peanut, Thai basil, and a squeeze of fresh lime.